


The First Year

by huckleberrysigh



Series: The Marauders [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, BAMF James Potter, BAMF Lily Evans Potter, BAMF Sirius Black, Character Development, F/M, Female Marauders (Harry Potter), Fluff, Gen, Hogwarts, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), Other, Peter Pettigrew was their friend, Some Plot, The Marauders - Freeform, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:34:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24096643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/huckleberrysigh/pseuds/huckleberrysigh
Summary: "Hello Remus." He said gently. He noted that the boy looked sideways to his mother, who in return smiled sadly. Remus looked back to Albus."Hello Sir." He said, and Albus gave him a small smile. For such a timid appearance, Remus had a strong voice, however young it sounded."My name is Albus Dumbledore," Albus said. "And I'd like to talk to you about a school called Hogwarts."Two sets of eleven-year old boys meet for the first time aboard the Hogwarts Express; one with a secret too painful to bear, one full of pride, one looking to belong, and one learning what it means to be part of a family.Or; The Marauders first day
Relationships: James Potter & Peter Pettigrew, James Potter & Remus Lupin, Remus Lupin & Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black & James Potter, Sirius Black & Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin & Peter Pettigrew & James Potter & Lily Evans Potter
Series: The Marauders [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1738540
Kudos: 12





	The First Year

In the summer of 1970, Mrs. and Mr. Hope and Lyall Lupin received a letter signed by one, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.

Two days preceding this letter, the Headmaster himself was seated at the Lupins dinner table. In front of him, a white mug was decorated with a pattern of pink flowers just below the rim. Albus Dumbledore smiled politely to Mrs. Lupin as she poured a milky tea from the blue teapot she balanced. He thanked her, and smiled an ignorant smile as the woman flushed.

He understood, of course, her intimidation. Hope Lupin was a muggle, but not clueless. No, this was not the reason to her flushed looks and wavering glances towards him. No, these were a result of the ten year old boy sitting opposite to Albus. The boy was thin in stature, with a bony complexion and hunched shoulders. His hair was shaggy and straight, slightly put up by static, and thin bangs shrouded the boys otherwise dark eyelashes.

The boy had curious green eyes, though Albus could see the flecks of fear that overwhelmed them. The boy blinked and lifted a small hand, using his fingers to move his bangs to the side of his face before placing his hands back in his lap. Albus reached for his mug and sipped. His own eyes followed the trail of the pink scar running over the bridge of the young boys nose, resting near the bottom of his cheek.

The boy swallowed, flushing under Albus' gaze, and tried to sit straighter. Albus noted that he had the same mannerisms as his mother. Albus glanced sideways as he sat the mug back to on the blue placemat that had been placed before him. Hope and Lyall were lingering on the wall adjacent to Albus and their son. Hope had since placed the teapot on the stove and now fingered the hem of her apron. Lyall looked even more anxious than his wife, with his arms crossed over his chest and fingers twitching apprehensively. His eyes held a pensive guilt to them, and Albus looked away. He cleared his throat, and the young boy sitting parallel froze. His green eyes widened as they stared at Albus.

"Hello Remus." He said gently. He noted that the boy looked sideways to his mother, who in return smiled sadly. Remus looked back to Albus.

"Hello Sir." He said, and Albus gave him a small smile. For such a timid appearance, Remus had a strong voice, however young it sounded.

"My name is Albus Dumbledore," Albus said. "And I'd like to talk to you about a school called Hogwarts."

A little over one year afterwards, a white-blonde woman chased a messily haired boy through London Kings Cross Station.  
"I'll beat you Mum!" The boy cheered, too large of glasses frames bouncing on the bridge of his nose as he ran. Euphemia Potter giggled as she neared him, low heels clacking excitedly as she darted around an upright, formally dressed woman. She cast out a quick apology as she heard the woman humph, then returned all attention to her eleven year old son.  
She stooped and reached out her arms, tickling his sides as she caught up to him, just a few feet shy of Platform 10. The boy squealed and laughed excitedly as he buckled, pushing his back against his mothers chest as she tickled him. As she relented, the boys squealish giggles resided as well, and she felt a blooming nostalgia for her boy. She pressed a loud kiss into his hairline before releasing him, though he still hung onto her hand as she turned.  
"I hope we didn't lose your Father," She said, voice slightly breathless. She imagined her flushed cheeks and felt her eyes gleam once again with exhilaration as she thought back to the tightly wrapped woman she'd narrowly avoided. A Witch, one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, if Euphemia had to guess. No bother, Euphemia didn't care much what anyone else would think of her, especially when concerning the playful, mischievous happiness that happened to be her son.  
She smiled brightly once spotting the tall dark haired wizard pushing James' trolley. His face was blank as he looked among the Platforms, then his eyes brightened as they came across his wife and son. James hung happily off his mothers side, grinning up as his father came up beside them.  
Euphemia laughed happily as Fleamont ducked to pester her cheek with small kisses.  
"Mum thought we'd lost you," James said, swinging his and his mothers conjoined hands as they fell back into step with his father. Fleamont pushed the trolley to walk on James' other side, something Euphemia would lovingly call their 'James' sandwich'. Fleamonts light eyes sparkled as he grinned at James.  
"Nonsense," He crowed. "You'd have to work much harder if you ever wanted me gone." He took a hand off the trolley to muss James' hair before they crossed onto Platform 9 3/4. To this, James grinned brightly, eyes shining as they stared at his father.  
"Never." He said, and they crossed onto the Platform.

Remus Lupin was sitting by himself. He and his parents had come an hour previous to the appointed time on his ticket, per Dumbledores suggestion that Remus meet the staff that ran the Express. Remus had agreed, partly easing the anxiety behind so many people suddenly knowing the secret he and his family had worked on repressing for more than six years now.  
Remus swallowed as he thought back to how the Conductor hadn't at all shied away from him like he'd anticipated. Instead, the man knelt to meet Remus' eyes and welcomed him aboard. The lady working the trolley even slipped him a chocolate frog when he and his parents passed her and her cart. The woman sent him a wink along with it, something that made Remus feel was a mischievous exchange instead of a pitying gift. Once the Conductor had aided in directing them to a compartment, Remus' father had lifted his trunk onto the overhang for him. Afterward, he changed into his uniform and robes, and spent another twenty minutes discussing what he planned to do on the ride with his mother. But alas, time carried to read 10:30, and Remus had shooed his parents away with a tight chest and warm goodbye.  
Remus nudges the pocket of his cloak in remembrance, and feels the shapeliness of the chocolate frog package. His chest warms at the reminder. Silly as it may be, Remus is terrified that he's dreaming.  
His ears perk at the sound of the compartment door clicking and he turns towards it, eyes wide. His heart begins to hammer in his chest as the door opens to reveal a small, sort of mousy looking boy with brownish-golden hair. Like Remus, the boy stilled upon seeing him.  
The boy flushed slightly and cleared his throat.  
"May I sit with you?" He asked, sounding a tad timid. Remus pounding heart made no move to ease itself, and to its great surprise; Remus nodded. His eyes remained on the boy until he stepped in and closed the compartment door again. He watched as the boy sat in the corner of the seat opposite Remus, sitting diagonal from each-other. After the boy sat, Remus quickly turned his gaze to the window and pressed his elbow against it, subconsciously trying to separate himself more from the boy.  
"Are you a first year too?" He asked suddenly. Remus nodded. 'Too', he noted, which meant that this boy was like him, in at least one way.  
It was another moment of silence that the boy cleared his throat, and Remus' eyes snapped back to him. There was no way the boy could know already. Remus' hammering heart threatened to burst, and Remus almost subjected himself to his fear. Looking back, he remembers this moment even clearer than he remembers his sorting. He remembers the overwhelming need to run from the compartment; to tear away from the boy and all his desire to attend Hogwarts; to run for his parents and never look back. He remembers all of this, and the boys voice rings like a bell every time.  
"My name is Peter," The boy said, rather than anything else Remus may have been expecting, and he faltered. He visibly dropped against the window, and Peter did nothing but spare him an odd look, tilting his head to the side slightly. Remus' jaw was a moment away from dropping, and he swallowed, head becoming fuzzy with relief.  
"Remus," He breathed. "Remus Lupin." Peter smiled.

James had been sorted into Gryffindor, Sirius could see him. He sat proudly among others, and craned his neck, smiling brightly to Sirius. Professor McGonagall cleared her throat again, something she'd done three times already to realign the attention of the many students and staff occupying the Great Hall. Sirius looked back at her with an adoring gaze; he'd only known her for a maximum of fifteen minutes and she had managed to become one of the warmest, kindest women he knew. When he told this to James, he stared incredulously, asking how he thought a woman so strict could be so warm. Sirius said something about seeing stricter, and James had laughed. Sirius didn't.  
It had been previously known to him that not all wizarding families acted as his did, treating children as heirs and inheritors more than anything. From what he'd heard from James, even from what he'd seen when James' mother ran around Sirius' to catch him; Sirius had decided that Euphemia Potter was a mother he'd never seen before.  
"Sirius Black." Professor McGonagall called, and Sirius momentarily froze. He walked to the stool she perched beside, and gingerly sat. He met the eyes of one James Potter, and relayed what he'd said on the train. Maybe I'll break tradition. His gaze trickled to the Slytherin table, and met the cold, illuminating eyes of his blond cousin Narcissa. She was smiling at him, and he tried to manage what he thought was one, but appeared more like a grimace. She paid it no mind and winked.  
He swallowed, and the sorting hat was placed on his head. Sirius shut his eyes.  
Silence.  
There was only silence from the great hat. It lasted a minute, maybe two, and Sirius' palms began to sweat. He clenched his fists in an attempt to stop the perspiration and balled them in the lap of his cloak.  
"GRYFFINDOR!"  
Sirius' eyes opened. And they opened wide. He was trembling. He could feel it, and when Professor McGonagall took the hat from off his head, he stumbled off of the stool. The Gryffindor table was clapping, but the hall held silence otherwise. On his way to sit down by James, Sirius looked feverishly back to his cousin.  
Narcissa looked shocked, to say the very least. Her eyes were as wide as his and her jaw was dropped. When she saw Sirius glance at her however, she tried to pull herself together. She met the young boys eyes, and smiled the same grimace he'd given her.  
It was after Sirius Black was sorted that James Potter first introduced him to first years Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew.


End file.
